April 30, 2013 -- Sunday night at Quincy Raceways saw 74 cars check in
in the five classes. There were several new cars on hand, some
familiar faces and some new ones. The UMP format continues to perform
as expected, especially in the late model division, with five drivers
making their first appearance of 2013. In the end, it was a local
driver picking up the win in the 30 lap feature. And in doing so,
Rickey Frankel kept a somewhat unusual streak going. Rickeys first
ever feature win at QR gave us three winners in three nights who had
never won a late model feature at the Broadway Bullring, following
Jerry Lierly on opening night, and Chad Simpson at last weeks special.
Ironically, Lierly was the first casualty in the 20 car field on
Sunday, dropping out on a lap three caution period. Before one lap was
complete, the yellow waved twice for two first timers. 2012 regular
Jim Moon looped his # 1, sending him from his row six starting spot to
the tail. When the green waved again, Decatur racer Donnie Cisco III,
making I believe his first ever visit, brought out the yellow. Under
green, Frankel got the jump from his pole position and quickly moved
to the bottom groove. He held on through a lap three stoppage for
Vance Wilson, who appeared to have help spinning into the infield. We
then stayed green until lap 17, just as Frankel was catching the back
of the pack, as newcomer Alan Westling slowed. From there it was a
clear track, and although Dewayne Kiefer stuck his nose inside the #
33F several times, Rickey held his ground to the checkers. Kiefer, who
calls St Genevieve, Mo. home continued a streak of his own at QR. In
three regular season visits over the last two years, he has a win and
two runner up finishes. He also set fast time with a lap of 14.761,
but finished second to third starting Frankel in the dash setting up
the front row of the finale. As it was last week, the track was
smooth, but had no cushion, and most drivers elected to run the bottom
groove. In fact the only driver doing much passing in the feature was
Moon, who came back from his lap one trip to the back to nip Mark
Burgtorf for third at the checkers. Eighth starting Justin Reed fell
back early, bur recovered to finish fifth.

After an early exit from the feature last week, Steven Delonjay
resumed his winning ways in the UMP modified main event. In fact,
Steven swept the nights events, setting fast time and winning the fast
dash, as well. Michael long chased Delonjay to the checkers, with
Shawn Deering making a mid race charge to third. Robbie Reed took
fourth, while Jake Griffin made the long haul back from Michigan,
where his asphalt late model show was rained out, to take fifth. Mike
Vandereit Jr, from Mexico, Mo.made the trip to QR in a sharp looking #
17V, running in the top five early before settling for seventh behind
Chris Spalding. Dave Weitholder had a tire go down early, and but he
stayed out until being involved in a caution on lap nine. He changed
two tires under caution, then came back to finish eighth.

The IMCA stock car feature showed 12 cars, and they ran an unusual
slam, bang 20 laps. The class that generally has great side by side
racing and minimal contact produced a lot of rubbing and more. Abe
Huls found the front early and stayed out of trouble, picking up his
first QR win of the season. Jake Powers found himself in the runnerup
spot at the checkers, while brothers in law Beau Taylor and Brandon
Savage, both out for the first time in 2013 ran side by side for
several laps, crossing the stripe in third and fourth. Week one winner
Terry Houston was fifth. Jerry Jansen ran second for much of the race,
but spun after contact while running third with three laps to go. It
was not a " business as usual " night in stock car land!

Interestingly, the best feature of the night may have been the IMCA
Sport Mods. Bobby Anders worked his way around Tanner Klingele early
to take the lead, but for good reason all eyes were on Tony Dunker. It
took the defending champ a few laps to get to the runner up spot, but
once he arrived, the race was on. Tony showed the nose of his # 3 to
Bobby down low, and tried to power around in the middle groove. Each
time, Anders prevailed. The caution waved on lap 16 and again one lap
later. After the final restart, Dunker appeared to have a shot at the
pass, but could not hold his ground, and Anders powered away to take a
hard earned win. Dunker held on for second followed by Joe Bliven,
Klingele, and Charley VanZandt. Dustin Crear made the long tow from
Mediapolis, Iowa in his # 2AC, running well early on.

The numbers are not there yet in the IMCA Sport Compact class,
hopefully warm weather will generate more cars. Only 11 checked in on
Sunday, with only nine taking the feature green. For the second week
in a row, the polesitter could not make the call, as Laine VanZandt
was a no show. And just like last week, it was a wild and wooly
event. Pat Dunker looked to be on his way to his second win, but a
restart with two laps to go shook things up. Austen Becerra managed to
overtake " Skippy, " and held on for the win. Dunker held off Craig
Bangert for second, and Kimberly Abbott was the last car running,
taking fourth.

Action resumes this Sunday night for weekly racing. The next special
event will be on Sunday May 26, when the 410 sprint cars come to town
and the late models have the night off. Heres hoping for warmer temps
and a fast cushion before then!